Bizav Basics

I stopped paying serious attention to fashion years ago. But just out of curiosity, I do check with younger colleagues every now and then to see whether my Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses are in or out of style. I'm told they're in again. That makes at least six cycles since I bought them. By the time you read this, it could be seven.

A growing number of travelers are turning to chartered aircraft as reports of airline delays, canceled flights and deteriorating service become routine. Combined with the advent of per-seat purchase options and block-membership programs, aircraft charter has emerged as an cost-effective alternative to other means of travel for many people.

You probably don't give much thought to the windows in your airplane's cabin. With the tasteful interiors and all the office and entertainment amenities available on private aircraft today, the windows might seem as though they exist solely to shed natural sunlight on the hand-rubbed rosewood finish of the pop-up computer desk.

Digital text messaging might be the preferred communications medium of the future, but when it comes to air traffic control (ATC), pilots and their counterparts on the ground still need a live human voice at the other end of the earphones. Texting may be fine for many forms of messages aloft, and in fact, it has been widely used for years by airlines and many business-jet operators.

Inner beauty really does trump outward appearance-especially after factoring in comfort and utility. Your aircraft's interior, from the suppleness of the seats to the entertainment system, has a huge impact on both ownership experience and resale value.

Manned flight in powered aircraft was only 15 years old when the idea of carrying mail in airplanes seemed doable to the bureaucrats in Washington. The airplane's success during the Great War in Europe-still ongoing- showed a promise of peacetime applications. So it happened on May 1, 1918, that the U.S.

When you're sitting in the back of a business jet, you're entrusting the aircraft and its pilots to deliver you safely to your destination. One big reason you can count on them to do that is because Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) govern your flight.

In a recent discussion of sports with my British colleague Charles Alcock, he talked about England's historic admiration for what he described as the "gifted amateur." This was illustrated best in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire, the story of Harold Abrahams, the gold-medal winner in the 100-meter dash at the 1924 Olympics.

First, some good news: aircraft ownership, while expensive, offers many tax benefits. A business jet may generate, say, $2 million of out-of-pocket costs annually, but if all of those costs are deductible against taxable income, your after-tax out-of-pocket costs might be only $1.2 million.

All takeoffs are optional but all landings are mandatory.
It's one of those clever dark-humor catchphrases that permeate aviation and it speaks an unerring truth. Once you break ground and clear the security of the runway, you've left behind the one option that absolutely guarantees you will not have an airplane crash today.

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“Let me be straight with you. What I'd rather have is an airplane. We just had a third kid. I don't like flying commercial. I like to take my family to Hawaii. When I go east, I'd like to have pilots I know.
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